Rules of Life
by SincerelyChristina
Summary: After a series of unfortunate events, young Harry Potter is sent to live with a relative in the states, one LeRoy Jethro Gibbs, by Albus Dumbledore. When it's finally time for the young man to return to Hogwarts, he is not at all who the old man was planning to be. A strong-minded Harry is prepared for his future, and plans to throw pre-made plans for him out the water.
1. Prologue

Hello, fanfiction world! Welcome to my first story on this account. First I'd like to give a warm thank you to Katdemon1985 for letting me adopt this story. This first chapter will be all her, however starting next it will be all me. This is mostly the prologue of what is to come.

Disclaimer: I do not make any profit from this, as the characters belong to the Creators of Harry Potter and NCIS. This chapter is not my original work, though I did tweak it a bit in preparation of the path I plan on taking with this story. Plot credit belongs to KatDemon1985, and thank you again for letting me use this little plot bunny of yours. (:

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Petunia Dursley was not having a very good day. First bacon grease had splattered over her arm as she'd cooked her beloved husband's breakfast and then it turned out that Vernon was almost out of clean shirts. She'd rushed about the house all morning as she worked her hands to the bone to get all of the house work done. Her ickle Duddykins had been fussy as well and Petunia was sure that her poor baby was sick but the fool of a doctor had insisted that her precious little boy was just fine. She wasn't sure how much longer that she would be able to handle the stress of knowing her baby was sick and nothing was helping! A headache formed as she tried to stay on top of everything, tried everything she could think of to calm her child down. If that wasn't enough, her brother's vile sister, Marge, had dropped by unannounced and she had to entertain the leech.

She'd thought that her day was getting better when Vernon had called her from work and invited her to meet him for lunch. He'd told her he had a surprise for her.

But then Mrs. Figg had called and told her that she couldn't watch the freak anymore for the day. She'd given some ridiculous excuse but Petunia had known it was just that, an excuse. And she couldn't blame the woman, who wanted to be stuck watching that little brat, who was always so silent, always watching everyone around him with those damned green eyes, who wanted to be around that all day? And Marge had, of course, refused to take on the responsibility of watching the brat, though she'd practically jumped at the chance to watch Dudley. It had nearly broken Petunia's heart to leave her treasure in the hands of Vernon's sister but she'd needed to get out of the house. She needed whatever good news Vernon had for her and she'd been sure that a waiter or someone would watch the brat while she and Vernon enjoyed their time together.

She'd packed her sister's child into the car with little thought and took off away from her home.

Petunia's annoyance increased as the little brat began to snivel and whine. The young Mrs. Dursley was almost ready to start crying herself. Her headache was growing. Her eyes were pounding. She didn't notice that she'd pressed her foot a little more firmly to the gas pedal.

Her sister's child let out a particularly distressing whimper, one that not even a heart harder than Petunia's would be able to ignore. The housewife turned slightly to reach for the distressed child, hoping some form of contact would calm him down.

She didn't notice as the light of the stoplight turned red just before her car ran through the crossway. She didn't see the other two cars, one driven by a man who had imbibed quite heavily the evening before and who was still feeling the effects, and one that contained a small family.

Newspapers would keep the incident alive for a month and new awareness ads regarding the dangers of drunk driving would pop up all over the place for some time, holding the only two survivors of the accident, a pair of not quite toddlers, as poster babies representing those who could be and were hurt by drunken and reckless driving.

The children, one little boy with a shock of messy black hair and eyes that were a startling shade of green and one little girl already blessed with thick brown curls and a habit of babbling to whoever got close enough to hear, were both in a bit of a predicament. Police officers and welfare workers could not find any relatives for the girl. The boy was in a slightly different situation. Like the girl, they could not find any relatives, but unlike her, they couldn't find out _anything _about him. They had at least managed to find out the baby girl's name. They'd discovered plenty about the woman in whose car he had been found but the woman and her family did not have any records regarding the baby and her husband and his sister denied all knowledge of the child.

One editor of a newspaper had put out a call for anyone missing a child to come and stand up. It actually got a reply and, after they were vetted, the little girl was whisked away without further delay.

Finally, the police and child services gave looking for the boy's family up as a lost cuase and he was sent to an orphanage. Luckily, he was still quite young and snapped up quickly. The night before the little boy was to be officially adopted by a nice couple from Warwickshire, an elderly man in twinkling purple robes, appeared in the room where the baby was being kept with a dozen other orphaned children.

The elderly man found himself with a dilemma. On the one hand, young Mr. Potter's cousin Dudley Dursley was the son of Petunia, Lily's sister. Little Dudley _could_ be used to maintain the blood wards.

But on the other hand, there was Vernon Dursley to consider. When Petunia had been alive, Albus Dumbledore felt no compunction at leaving little Harry with his maternal aunt. He knew that he would be condemning the boy to at least ten dark years, but Mrs. Dursley would undoubtedly have stood up against any form of physical abuse and mitigated the mental abuse. He was not so senile as Minerva sometimes believed him to be.

Mr. Dursley though, Albus would readily admit that he was not so sure of the man's behavior to trust Harry to the muggle. While for the Greater Good Mr. Potter would have to be raised so as to be willing to sacrifice himself, it would not do anyone any good if the boy was beaten or suffered abuse that was too extreme. He needed a sacrificial lamb, not a second Tom.

He took the baby. He had to think and he couldn't risk the child being adopted by normal muggles. They would all be dead in a day if that happened. The muggle, for it had to be a muggle, would have to be a blood relative, a blood relative with a very particular mentality.

The headmaster sighed. Whoever it was going to be, a letter would not suffice this time. He looked down at the baby who shifted in his arms and he felt his heart clench in pain. The poor boy.

Harry Potter would remain orphaned for the second time, though this time only for another week, before Dumbledore found someone he believed was a suitable blood relative.

Muggle, divorced several times, a time consuming, stressful job, uncommunicative, gruff, a sense of honor that would not allow him to physically hurt the boy, self sacrificing. Dumbledore had smiled as he studied the future foster father of the boy who lived.

Yes, Mr. Leroy Jethro Gibbs would be a perfect guardian for the boy who lived.

_Ten Years Later_

"She's got to know she doesn't have any friends," Ron Weasley said bitterly, either not noticing or not caring that the object of his vitriol could hear him perfectly, "and why would she? She's a nightmare! And she can't even speak properly."

A blur of brown pushed past them and disappeared so quickly that, had it not been impossible, Ron and his companion would have sworn that the person had disappeared.

Ron yelped as he felt someone smack him upside his head.

"You don't say things like that about your teammates," the disciplinarian said shortly, glaring at the red head with calm green eyes.

"But it's true Harry!" Ron protested.

"Whether or not it's true, it's rude," Harry replied, "and uncalled for."

With that the boy stalked off, his robes swirling in his wake as he stalked off after the vanished student. It took him a little bit of time to discover that she had disappeared into an empty classroom, but that only meant that he had missed potions and the Harry Gibbs couldn't really find anything wrong in that. By the time he got home his favorite babysitter, Abby, would undoubtedly have immersed herself so thoroughly in the study of potions that she could catch him up and even help him get ahead in the subject.

He stood in front of the door where his quarry had barred herself. There was a notice me not ward on the door, a pretty good one too. But then, she'd easily proven herself to be the smartest witch in his year and if she was related to who she thought she was, her skills were more than understandable.

He concentrated his magic so he could ignore the ward that insisted that there was nothing to be noticed and he went inside.

He waited a moment as he watched the only other occupant in the room, wondering how long it would take her to notice him.

The girl in question was busy causing feathers and rolls of parchment and pages of note paper to float in the air and then sending jets of red and blue light after the floating targets, causing them to explode into hundreds of pieces. A few of the rolls of parchment even caught fire as the girl shot them down. Harry was impressed at her control in maintaining so many individual levitations and then attacking them.

"What do you want?" the girl said in a carefully controlled voice, not even bothering to turn around to look at him.

"He was wrong," Harry said bluntly, "and he's an idiot. You're not a nightmare and the way you talk is just fine."

"But I do not have any friends," the girl pointed out in a deceptively light tone.

"Rule number three, never believe what you're told, always double check," Harry parroted to her, "Ron obviously didn't check his information. I'm you're friend, so see? You have one."

The girl turned to face him fully. Her brown eyes were wary and he could see dried tracks of tears running down her cheeks and more tears threatening to spill. He shifted, hoping she didn't notice that he was nervous. He hated it when women cried.

"Do you even know my name?" she asked carefully.

"Hermione Jane Granger-David," Harry answered, a cheeky grin on his face, "of course I know your name, you are my friend after all, right?"

Hermione frowned.

"But why?" she asked, "you heard what the Weasel said. I am a nightmare."

"Weasley doesn't make up my mind for me," Harry retorted, "I can't speak for his behavior, and I'm not going to, but I can own up to my own and I can speak my own mind. I don't think you're a nighmare. I think you're pretty interesting."

"Really?" she asked and Harry nodded.

"So, do you want to be friends?" Harry asked and Hermione nodded, a shy smile appearing on her friends.

"Yes, I should like that, we're friends and we shall be thick as trees," she declared and Harry smiled.

"Thick as thieves you mean?" he asked and she frowned.

"Why should we wish to be like thieves?" she asked, "thieves do not trust each other, I imagine they make very poor friends."

"Well why would we want to be thick as trees?" Harry countered.

"Trees can grow together, intertwining and becoming akin to one tree though they remain independent of one another," Hermione replied, "they grow stronger together."

Harry laughed.

"Thick as trees then," he said agreeably, "come on, we can ditch potions and explore a bit. Maybe we'll find a better place for target practice. Though if we can't, I'll take a turn levitating targets for you."

He offered his hand to her.

"That would be nice," Hermione replied and she took his hand as they left the room, canceling the notice me not ward as they walked away.

They searched through the halls of Hogwarts and found a suite of empty classrooms that they made note of before they chose to forgo the Halloween feast in favor of returning to the common rooms.

"I do not wish to deal with others, just yet," Hermione confessed, her cheeks slightly pink and a frown on her face. Harry shrugged.

"You'll have to eventually," he pointed out, "but I suppose that will be on your terms. Just remember, you've got me in your corner."

"And I am in yours," Hermione replied, her frown melting into a shy smile.

It was not long though before the other Gryffindors came into the room, chattering excitedly. Percy Weasley gaped at the two of them.

"Harry Potter!" the prefect growled, "where have you been? All the teachers went to look for you!"

"Why?" Harry asked.

"There's a troll loose in the castle!" Ron piped up, "Professor Quirrel came and warned us, said it was somewhere in the dungeons. the headmaster sent everyone back to their common rooms but I noticed that you weren't with us and told the professors."

Harry frowned.

"No one noticed Hermione wasn't there either?" he asked with narrowed eyes. Several of the Gryffindors suddenly looked ashamed with themselves while others shrugged or generally dismissed the boy who lived's unspoken accusation.

"Were you not in the great hall when the professor announced the presence of the creature?" Hermione cut in and Ron sent a glare at the brunette.

"Yeah," Ron sneered, "sitting with my _friends_. That's why I was the one who noticed Harry was missing, we're friends after all."

"You really need to stop saying things without checking the facts," Harry snapped at the red head. Hermione interrupted the would be fight before it had the chance to escalate.

"Why did the headmaster let you leave the great hall?" the brunette girl pressed, "it was more easily defendable and are not the Hufflepuff and Slytherin common room entrances near the dungeons? Is it safe for them to have left the great hall? And were there only prefects to escort the students? Were there not teachers enough? Why did he put us in such danger?"

Hermione's questioning stunned the Gryffindors into silence.

"Rule 39, no such thing as a coincidence," Harry mused, "something's defintely up."

"Well we can't do anything about it now," Percy said pompously, "everyone to bed, now."

Harry shrugged, allowing the subject to be let go for the moment.

"Good night Hermione," Harry said to his newest friend. Hermione smiled shyly.

"Good night Harry," she returned, "I shall see you in the morning."

"Sounds good," Harry agreed and the two separated, both ignoring their roommates who clamored to know about this sudden change.

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The above was all Katdemon1985's work. Next chapter will be mine.


	2. Chapter 01: Never Say You're Sorry

As per usual the characters belong to J.K Rowlings and Don Bellisario(creator of NCIS). The credit to the story goes to Katdemon1985, though some of the plot is my own, and where I intend to take it is my own. I fully intend to keep in contact with Katdemon to get her opinions as well as future ideas.

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Chapter One: Rule #6, Never Say You're Sorry

Fingers tapping, he sat there watching the Professor drone on about the Goblin Wars, his other hand taking mindless notes. To an outsider view you would think he were paying attention, but in truth young Harry Gibbs was not. Instead he was focused on the nudge in the back of his head about the night before. Just why had the Headmaster ordered everyone to their common rooms when there were trolls in the school. Was he insane? He remembered Percy Weasley, the eldest Weasley still at Hogwarts, telling him on the night of the opening feast that the Headmaster was brilliant, but not all there in the head. He closed his eyes for a brief moment trying to recall the rest of his memories from that night. If there was one thing his father had taught him, it was to always be prepared.

Hearing the sound of a bell, the eleven year old put his things in his bag, and moved to stand up. Just as he was leaving the classroom his eyes met those of the familiar brunette that he had made friends with the day before. She smiled brightly at him, to which he returned, the two moving to walk at a leisure place, seeing as they had just finished up their Tuesday.

"Gibbs," The brunette said, reminding him somewhat of what the now deceased Kate Todd used to say to his dad, rather than boss. Raising an eyebrow, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Harry. It's just Harry, Hermione," He replied. The two laughed once again to themselves, making their way to the library to work on their homework. Before they could reach the area though, they were stopped by a familiar ginger making his way towards them.

"Hey, Harry! Seamus, Dean, and I are about to go play some exploding snap in the common room. Come join us?" He asked, oblivious to the glare that the brunette shot him.

"No I'm good, I'm going to go do some homework," He replied coolly, still peeved about the day before.

"Homework? But that's not do til next week! Come on, Harry! Don't let Miss David," mispronoucing Hermione's last name,"the prude stop you from having fun." Raising an eyebrow at the ginger, Harry opened his mouth to speak, before being cut off by Hermione.

"It's pronounced Dahv-eed, not David you twit," The twelve year old said hotly. Turning to look at the brunette, Harry could tell from both of the first years body language that an argument was about to ensue. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her away from the angry ginger, instead heading back in the direction of the library. As the two finally made it, they hauled their bags on a table towards the back before sitting down to start their homework that was due the next week.

Little did they know that a redhead was watching them from the entrance of the library, a glare shooting at them both, for different reasons. With a huff he turned around and stomped out of the library and back to the common room to go play exploding snap with his dorm mates, minus Harry and Neville. He didn't like that damn know-it-all, and that she was stealing The-Boy-Who-Lived from him. That was his friend!

As dinner approached, both Harry and Hermione could hear someone shuffling towards them. Turning to look at the new person, Harry only watched as Neville Longbottom cleared his throat and said something, though to low for either Harry or Hermione to hear. "Speak up, Neville, we can't hear you," Harry told the stuttering boy. Blushing a bright red, he spoke a little louder letting them know that dinner was starting soon and if they wanted to go to the Great Hall with him. The duo looked at each other, before closing their books and standing.

"That would be wonderful, thank you Neville," Hermione said, a smile on her face. Together the trio made their way out of the Library and down towards the Great Hall. Harry kept quiet, watching his company chat quietly amongst themselves, Hermione seeming to get that Herbology was something that not only Neville excelled in, but enjoyed immensely. He smiled to himself, shaking his head at their discussion the the use of Lancatyme, a common herb used in some magical medicines. As they sat down in the Great Hall, the conversation turned to Charms, when he finally noticed it.

"Neville, where did you get that wand?" He asked the boy. Neville turned to look at Harry, before glancing down at the old piece of wood in his hand."It was my fathers. My grandmum gave it to me, saying I should be proud to use it," He answered. Harry openly gaped, before shutting his mouth, his eyes narrowing.

"Well that would explain the problem you have in all our classes! The wand didn't choose you, so it won't work right. You should write your grandmum, and tell her that you need a wand of your own if she expects you to excel in classes." He told his friend, wondering just what the older woman was thinking when she gave her grandson the wand. Neville stared at the boy with glasses in wonder before looking down at the wand in his head, giving a sad sigh. "She won't be pleased, Harry." He answered quietly. Harry merely shook his head, deciding that he would write Lady Longbottom himself, if he had too. His dad always said that to be prepared you needed to make sure you had the best you could have, and knew everything you could possibly need before stepping into unknown territory. How was Neville to pass with a wand that wouldn't work for him?

As they dug in to eat, Harry felt another sit beside him. Turning to his left he noticed that none other than Ron Weasley was there. "Hey, Harry!" The ginger said brightly not noticing the glances he was getting from Hermione and Neville.

"Hi, Ron." Ron then proceeded to get far to much food onto his plate before digging in himself, leaving Harry to feel slightly disgusted at the boy next to him. Hermione sat across Ron, grimacing at the sight of him eating, and pushing her plate away from her deciding that she wasn't hungry after all. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight Harry, Neville," She said before standing. She quickly hurried out of the Great Hall, leaving Harry to ponder the sudden departure.

"Thank Merlin, she gone, right mate? I mean honestly, I don't know why you're even spending time with the insufferable know-it-all," Ron suddenly spoke, obviously forgetting what Harry had told him the day before. Sighing, Harry looked at Ron shaking his head.

"Still rude and uncalled for, Weasley." Standing up, he moved to leave when he heard the ginger call after him.

"Are you seriously standing up for someone like her, when we're better friends than you two are?"

"Yes, Weasley I am. Maybe when you learn some manners we'll talk again, but until then..." He left the sentence hanging, turning to give the Headmaster a significant look at the Head Table before rushing out of the room.

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An old man stood in his office, his eyes never moving from those of the objects that sat on his desk, even when he heard the sound of someone knocking on his door.

"Enter," he spoke solemnly, finally turning his head to look at the young man that now was walking through the door.

"You wanted to see me Professor?" Asked the young Ronald Weasley.

"Yes, Mister Weasley. I was hoping you could give me some of the insight that was promised at the beginning of term to me regarding Mister Potter." The redhead frowned, before opening his mouth to speak.

"Well you see..." He began. Professor Dumbledore, looked sharply at the boy giving him a look that said 'no excuses,' before letting him continue. He wasn't paying him and his family to befriend the boy for nothing. It was for The Greater Good, after all.

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Days had passed since the incident between Ron, Harry, and Hermione, and now the three sat in the common room each doing their own thing. Hermione sat reading a book to pass the time, Harry writing a letter to his favorite babysitter-Abby Scuito, and Ron watching the two behind his Quidditch magazine. He sighed to himself remembering what he had promised the old man only a few days ago before putting his magazine down. Best get to it then, if only for the sake of his family. Walking up to them both, he cleared his throat, hoping to be heard.

Glancing up from her book, Hermione raised an eyebrow. Now what could he want. "Er...Hermione I just wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting since school started, and was hoping we could maybe be friend," He asked, holding his hand out, hoping that this would work even if he didn't like the damned know-it-all. Looking up from his letter, Harry watched the two with interest, his mind wondering just what Ron Weasley was up to. In the short time he had known his dorm mate he had come to realize that Ron didn't apologize unless for a good reason. However he just shrugged his shoulders, letting the apology play-out, after all it was the one way for them to move on.

Hermione watched the redhead cautiously, watching his body language for any signs of lying, like her Aunt Ziva had taught her. Seeing that in fact the redhead was not lying, she stuck her hand out to shake his, speaking,"Apology accepted Ron." Grinning the redhead nodded his head before turning to look at Harry. He opened his mouth to apologize to green-eyed boy, before Harry himself spoke up. "Rule #6, Never Apologize. It's a sign of weakness." Taking that as a sign that he was forgiven, Ron grinned again before sitting next to Harry, and across from Hermione. All forgiven, the three decided to move on from this, and look to the future. Ron in hopes that Harry would forget about the damned Israeli, and just be friends with him as it should be. Harry hoping to get through the year, at least until the first break when he would go home to his dad, Abby, and Ducky. Hermione looking forward to getting to know her new friend better, and then go stay with her Aunt Ziva in America since she had recently sent her a letter about transferring there.

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**A/N** Please don't expect back-to-back chapters like this. That will not be happening, that I can assure you of. I'm going to try to update at least once a week, sometimes more depending on my schedule. I know this wasn't that interesting, but I am currently setting up the plot and for how I want the story to go. Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 02: No Such Thing as Coincidence

Hello again! Welcome to Part 2 of Rules of Life. Thank you all for the reviews, and to answer a few people's questions.

jh831-Harry and Hermione haven't met before Hogwarts.

DragonOfChallenges-yes I do plan to do it in flashback, in fact there will be on in this chapter.

Katdemon-I'm glad you like it! :) And yeah I plan to brush up on Ari, Ziba, Tony, and Kate business in this chapter as well.

Amitris-Haha I'm glad you like it! A mini Tony is on the way, that I can assure you of! :)

Thanks again everyone for the reviews, and enjoy chapter two!

Disclaimer: As per usual the characters belong to J.K Rowlings and Don Bellisario(creator of NCIS). The credit to the story goes to Katdemon1985, though some of the plot is my own, and where I intend to take it is my own. I fully intend to keep in contact with Katdemon to get her opinions as well as future ideas.

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Chapter 02: Rule #39; There's no such thing as coincidences.

It was the day after the first Quidditch match, and Harry along with Ron and Hermione, sat in the Gryffindor common room. The table they sat at had become their table, and everyone in the common room knew it. They were often joined by Neville and a young girl named Faith, another first year. Faith was a muggle-born much like Hermione, and hailed from the Americas, only attending Hogwarts because her father was stationed here when she was born. She was a bit of an air-head, though she excelled in History of Magic.

"Harry! Harry!" Turning his head to look at the voice, he watched as Neville ran towards him, a grin spreading across his face. "Harry! You'll never guess where I've been!" The boy said.

"Oh? I did notice you weren't in your bed this morning." The boy replied.

"Yes, that's because my grand-mum received the letter you sent her! Look I have my very own wand now! We went to Diagon Alley this morning, so I could pick it up!" Neville exclaimed, showing Harry and Hermione the wand. "It's Cherry wood with unicorn hair, 10 ½ inches."

"Very nice, Neville! Though it is so bad she could not have taken you to get it sooner, but good that she took you none the less," Hermione said to their excited friend.

"Though it isn't, Hermione. Not so," Ron told the brunette with a barely contained sneer. Even after the apologies a week before, Hermione and Ron were still on ends with each other. Harry shook his head as the two got into a quiet argument about who-knows what, as he turned to talk to Neville. Sometimes it was best to just leave them be, he had realized. They were polar opposites and so it was hard for them to not argue about something.

"I'm happy for you Neville," Harry told his friend with a smile. Neville smiled back before waving goodbye to the trio, turning to go find Faith so he could tell her the good news. Turning to look at his bickering friends, he quickly hit the two on the backs of their heads.

"Stop you two. It's time for lunch so let's go," He said. Harry was undoubtedly the leader of the trio, and knew it, though he wasn't exactly happy with it. Rubbing the back of their heads, the two turned to look at their friend before nodding their head. The trio quickly fixed up the table, making everything organized, before heading down for lunch.

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_Meanwhile in America..._

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was sitting, looking down the barrel of his own rifle turned against him. Behind the rifle stood Ari Haswari. They had been looking for this man, the man who killed Kate Todd, for months only to find him in Gibbs' own home. Ari was saying something to him, but Gibbs' mind was elsewhere. It was on the picture that was just behind Ari. A younger looking Gibbs stood in it, his hand on the shoulder of a young looking Harry Gibbs, his son in all but blood. A memory flashed back to him, of when he had first met the young man that had become such a big part of his life, the young man that had helped him heal after Shannon and Kelly's death.

_A young Leroy Gibbs had just finished up at the office. They had found a murderer of a well-known Navy Sailor, and now Gibbs was on his way home. As he approached the house, he knew something wasn't right. His hand immediately grabbing the gun holstered to his waist, he turned the safety off. Slowly he entered the house, watching his surroundings, looking for anything misplaced. He heard a noise from inside the living room, and put his back to the wall just before the entrance. Suddenly he turned, moving to where he was aiming the handgun at the intruder. There stood an old man, dressed in some of the strangest clothes he had ever seen in his life. On the floor sat a small boy with startling green eyes and a messy jet black hair, much like that of his cousin James Potter. He eyes trained on the old man, he suddenly felt his hands empty as his weapon disappeared. "Now, now Mister Gibbs, this is not the time for violence. I am afraid I have a request of you," The old man spoke, a twinkle in his eye. _

Nearly ten years had passed since Harry came into Jethro's life. At first he had been dubious of what the old man spoke, but after showing and proving that magic did in fact exist(and getting his weapon back), Jethro had agreed to take the boy in, on his terms. Harry was not to receive any magical contact until he was eleven, the reason being because Jethro was still cautious of it. It didn't help that he didn't trust the look of this old man to save his life either. Second, Harry was going to have his name changed. He would no longer be Harry Potter, but Harry Gibbs. And third, Jethro refused all the payment that Dumbledore wanted to give him. These terms being agreed to, Dumbledore left, and Harry Potter was no more. Harry Gibbs had lived a normal life-as normal as one could get with have a NCIS special agent for a father. He knew that he was a wizard, and he knew that both of his parents died to save his life, protecting him from a very evil man.

Suddenly a shot was heard, but it hadn't come from the weapon in front of him. It came from behind. As Ari fell to the ground dead, Gibbs' stood to take a look at the woman that knelt down by the door leading to the basement. Ziva David. She looked at him, and the two nodded their heads. No one needed to know the truth. Turning to give one last glance to the picture on the wall of his son, Gibbs' smiled. Only a few more months and he would see his boy again.

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_Back in England_

"Wait so let me get this straight, James Bond is an English spy who saves peoples lives and gets the girl every time?" Neville sat next to Faith as the blonde girl nodded her head. She spoke animatedly about the movie, Neville sitting there listening with rapt attention. Harry and Hermione sat across the two laughing to themselves as the pureblood was schooled in movies, television, and everything else he might need to know. Faith loved movies, and even more so when she was telling her friends about them. Neville just happened to be the one that wanted to know the most about it, since Ron wasn't the least bit interested and Harry and Hermione already knew about them.

Hearing a tapping on the window, the quartet turned to look at the sound, Hermione reaching over to open it. Hedwig flew inside, shaking snow off her head, before dropping a letter in front of him. "Hey girl," the boy cooed softly, stroking the owl's feathers. Hedwig nipped his fingers affectionately before flying up to the boy's dorm, no doubt to be warm before flying back to the owlery.

Glancing down at the envelope in his hand, a smile grew on his face as he recognized the handwriting. Abby and him had been keeping in correspondence since he had arrived, her letting him know how things were going, and also telling him about Kate's murder that had happened mid-September. Remembering the murder, his smile turned into a frown. It was amazing how one could forget about such horrid things while at Hogwarts. Though, he mused, he had been so busy with school and Quidditch so it was no surprise really.

Opening the letter, he read through it, tears nearly forming in his eyes.

_Hi Harry!_

_Sorry it took me so long to reply. A lot has been going on. Ari-the guy who hurt Kate-is dead! Your dad did it, though I'm not sure he's being honest about that. We also have someone new on the team, Ziva. Don't worry, Harry, she will never replace Kate, but she is a good asset. Even if she...well anyway, I hope this letter reaches you well, and I can't wait to see you in a few weeks! You have so much to catch me up on!_

_Love, Abby_

Ari was dead! This was good wasn't it? But why would this Ziva person join the team so shortly after? Biting his lip, Harry Gibbs knew he had to ask his dad about a lot when he got home. Much couldn't be said through letters, to this the green-eyed knew to be certain. Folding the letter he pocketed it so he could read it again later, and also write a reply.

"Oh! I just remembered that I forgot my homework in the library!" Hermione exclaimed, as she searched her bag frantically. Harry stood up, looking at the clock. They had a few minutes before curfew so knew that they would need to hurry. "Well let's go," he told his friend. Waving goodbye to Faith and Neville, Hermione and Harry hurried out of the corridor, nearly running into Ron. "Hey guys, so-" He cut off though when he realized that they were leaving, and decided to go with them. He couldn't let them get closer than they were, that wouldn't be good for him. As the trio hurried to the library, Hermione huffed when she realized it was closed. "We'll just come back in the morning, 'Mione, and you can get it then," Harry said, panting a little bit-they had ran to the library. With a sigh the brunette nodded her head, turning away from the door.

The three trooped back the way they came, walking at a slower pace before. "Hey Ron, where have you been anyway?" Harry asked the ginger.

"I had a detention remember? With Professor McGonogall." Ron answered, lying. He hoped that his friend would believe him, not wanting to get found out about his weekly visits with the Headmaster. Professor Dumbledore had said that Harry couldn't know about Ron going, that it would make the boy-who-lived suspicious.

"Hm, must have forgotten," Harry said, though he knew the boy was lying. He remembered their lesson with the Professor from the day before, and knew for a fact that he had not been assigned a detention. Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin who took to harassing Harry and his friends on a daily basis, had been given one, not Ron. As they stood on the moving staircase, Harry glanced over to Hermione. She was watching the two with a trained eye, before turning away. The boy raised an eyebrow.

"Oi! What are you doing out after curfew!" They heard a voice yell. Turning to look at the voice, Ron quickly grabbed both Harry and Hermione's hands, running up the rest of the stairs. "Filch! Run!" He cried. Whipping their hands from the ginger, Harry and Hermione easily kept pace with the boy, turning here and there, not paying attention in the least to where they were going.

**They ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door-and it was locked. **

"**This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door, "We're done for! This is the end!"**

**They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could towards them. "Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed her wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!"**

**The lock clicked and the door swung open-they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.**

Hearing the sound of footsteps running running past them, Harry gave Hermione a grateful look, before moving to open the door. "Uh...Guys..." Ron whimpered. Harry turned to reply to the boy, when his eyes widened at the sight before him. A large dog, three-headed dog, growled at them, causing the redhead to whimper again. Hermione and Harry stood frozen for a minute before whipping around to wrench the door open. The three booked it out of the room, and down the corridor again.

When they had finally managed to make it back to the common room, they were breathing heavy. Seeing their distressed figured, Faith and Neville walked over. "You three okay," The blonde girl asked with a curious look in her eyes. Finally catching his breath, Ron could only shake his head before heading up to the dorms, more likely than not to get as far from the beast as he thought he could.

"Yeah we're fine, thanks for waiting up for us," Harry said, having caught his breath a moment before. Seeming to take that as an answer, Neville and Faith nodded before heading up to their respective dorms. Harry turned to look at the bushy-haired girl. "Did you see what I saw?" He asked the girl.

"It was standing on something, a trapdoor by the looks of it," She replied quietly. Harry nodded his head. So she had noticed it. He nodded his head, to show that was what he was speaking about. "First the troll on Halloween, and now a Cerberus, what is Dumbledore thinking?" She said, angry at the Headmaster for allowing this.

"Rule #39, Hermione. There's no such thing as coincidences."

* * *

A/N-Bold is directly quoted from Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone.

Edit: If you've read this before, I suggest reading it again. I've edited some details that were brought to my attention.


	4. Chapter 03: Always Watch The Waters

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: As per usual the characters belong to J.K Rowlings and Don Bellisario(creator of NCIS). The credit to the story goes to Katdemon1985, though some of the plot is my own, and where I intend to take it is my own. I fully intend to keep in contact with Katdemon to get her opinions as well as future ideas.

* * *

Chapter 03: Rule #35; Always watch the watchers.

Life at Hogwarts was something that everyone had gotten used to. The almost weekly pranks from the infamous Weasley Twins, Professor Snape's obvious favoritism towards his own house, visits to Hagrid on the weekends for tea. As it were, Harry could hardly believe that Winter Break was fast approaching them. The weather outside had turned for the worst, Hermione seeming to be bothered the most by the snow that seemed to fall continuously, causing all the students to shelter in every knook and cranny that was Hogwarts. Even the library was full of students!

Even with all of this, Hermione still spent nearly every waking moment in the library trying to figure out what a Cerberus was, what they were usually used for, and most importantly of all why there was one in the school. Harry had joined in on the research, though not as passionately as the bushy-haired girl, when he had a chance, however their ginger-haired friend had not. He had said that he wanted nothing to do with the three-headed beast from that night, claiming(rather loudly mind you) that they were crazy for thinking of going back in there.

Twiddling her quill with her hand, Hermione looked up to her friend that sat across the table from her. She could tell that he was barely managing to stay awake, his eyes drooping slightly, and his shoulders starting to slacken. With a sigh, she decided that it might be time for them to call it a night. "Harry? Come on, let's head back to the common room." She said to her friend. The male across from her looked at her, nodding his head lazily. The both quickly waved their wands, the books flying back to their places, before picking up their notes and stuffing them in their bags. They made to head in the direction of the entrance, when they spotted a familiar ginger making their way to them.

"Harry! The list is up for if we're staying home for the Holidays. We should sign up now, mum and dad decided to make a trip to Romania, so it's going to be you, my brothers, and I for the holidays!" Ron said happily, after approaching them. He was excited not only to get Harry about from Hermione for the holidays, but also because it meant that the Headmaster would be pleased with his efforts, or so he hoped.

"Harry isn't staying here for the holidays, Ronald. He's going home. Aren't you Harry? Or did you change your mind, since we last talked about it?" Hermione asked, turning to look at their friend. Harry and Hermione both looked at each other, not noticing the seething look Ron shot her way. 'Since they last talked? The only time they're alone is when they're in the blasted library, and Neville is usually with them, so they have no time to 'talk!,' he thought to himself. He was broken out of his thoughts when Harry spoke.

"No, I'm still going home. Dad would be upset if I didn't come home, I think. Aunt Abby and Uncle Ducky wouldn't be to happy either. Same with Uncle Tony and Uncle Tim, now that I think about it," Harry said, turning to look at the gaping Ron, "Thought I had told you, my bad." Ron could only stare at Harry before nodding his head glumly. Oh this was just great, now he _would_ have to go home. He fell into step beside Harry, Hermione on the other side, as the three trooped up the corridor, making for the common room.

* * *

Two days had passed since Harry had finally told Ron that he would not be staying at the school for the holidays. Now, Ron sat in the Headmaster's office-as he did every Wednesday evening- waiting for the Headmaster to make an appearance. As the old man appeared at a door that was not seen by the untrained eye, he sat at his desk, waiting for Ron to speak. He waved a hand, proceeding to let the young Weasley speak. "He's going home, apparently. At least that's what he told me. Said something about his 'dad' wanting him home." Those were all the words needed, before the old man's face turned grim. This would not do, not do at all.

"Thank you Mr. Weasley. I will take care of everything, fear not. Come now, anything else to report? He isn't getting to closer to Miss David is he?" Ron blushed a little in embarrassment, knowing his headmaster would not be pleased. Slowly he shook his head. Unconsciously gripping his hand into a fist, the Professor nodded at the first year to continue.

"They spend all their free time in the library, sir. I try to be there to distract Harry, but he doesn't seem to really pay attention. I can't get him to do anything normal with Seamus, Dean and I. It's always Longbottom and David he wants to hang out with-and that means homework or just chatting about muggle things. Down right annoying, let me tell you." The ginger paused, idly wondering if he should tell Dumbledore about the Cerberus they ran into weeks ago, but decided against it. His blue eyes twinkling, Albus waited for the young boy to continue, his mind easily breaking the barriers in his mind to see what he was thinking about. A small smirk came to his face. 'So they found Hagrid's pet. Perfect...' he thought to himself.

* * *

Hermione walked quietly down the hallway. It was late, and she was on her way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, when she heard it. Looking around, the bushy-haired girl quickly hid behind a pillar not wanting to be seen by any Professor, it was after-curfew after all. To her stunned shock she watched as Ronald Weasley came from around the corner hid head down. He was not alone however, as Professor Dumbledore walked beside the young boy, his hand resting on the boy's shoulder-like a grandfather would to their grandchild. 'Now what could that be,' she idly wondered to herself, eyes narrowing as the two passed by her.

"Don't fret, Mister Weasley, I shall take care of everything. You won't have to worry about Mister Potter and Miss David anymore." She heard the older man say to Ron. Hermione froze in shock. Why were they talking about her? And this Potter kid...wait. Realization dawned her face, as it clicked in her head. Harry's birth name-or rather surname- was Potter! That was odd though, all the Professor's knew to call Harry by Gibbs, not Potter. Even more to the point, what did he mean take care of? As in get rid of? Biting her lip, she looked around, noticing that the two she had been watching were long gone, before moving from behind the pillar. Picking up her pace, she quickly ran to the common room, taking a few shortcuts she, Neville, and Harry had found a few weeks before.

* * *

_Back in America_

Leroy Jethro Gibbs sat in his chair at the NCIS headquarters. While he was physically there, his mind however was not-which was an odd thing to see. While he did not keep up an almost daily ritual of writing to his son-like Abby had taken to along with Ducky- he did however write weekly. As it were now, he had a letter sitting on his desk from his son, opened and waiting to be replied to. Closing his eyes, Gibbs sighed to himself before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Hey, Gibbs! This just came for you," a voice said, coming from the right. Opening his eyes, Gibbs focused his eyes on the present, looking to the voice. Anthony DiNozzo, or Tony for short. Taking the envelope from Tony's hand, Gibbs looked down at it, automatically recognizing the hand-writing. "Thanks," he said-almost unconsciously. Tony stared at him for a moment, before shaking his head. Quickly turning, he walked back out heading down to Abby's lab to get the results back from her regarding their latest case. He knew Gibbs would talk to them later, after all Harry was coming in only a couple days! In fact the entire team had already raided Gibbs' home, decorating it for when the kid got home, and put their presents for Harry under a tree. Even Ziva-even if she didn't know the kid. She had heard quite a bit, though, about the young boy who was attending a school in Scotland-due to it being where his parents went.

It was sometime later that Tony reappeared, closely followed by Abby, Ducky, Ziva, and Tim. The sight before them, had all give freeze in shock. Gibbs-their boss and friend- was staring at the letter in his hand, the one that Tony had given him only hours before. "Boss?" Tim stuttered, not sure as to what the man's mood was at the moment. No one made a move as they watched Gibbs tear the parchment in his hands in half before throwing it away, shocked to hear the tone in his voice. "If he thinks he can keep my son away from me, he is sadly mistaken. I will fly there if I have to." Gibbs growled to himself, not aware of the group of people that stood watching him. Hearing what was said, something snapped.

"What!? Harry has to come home!" Abby all but yelled, her voice breaking through the silence. His eyes turning to look at the girl, Jethro sighed shaking his head. He hadn't meant for them to hear his frustrations. "According to the Headmaster, due to the travel he thinks it would be unwise for Harry to come home," the male replied. Ziva raised an eyebrow.

"My niece goes to a school in Scotland," she said-startling everyone in the room-,"And she's allowed to come home. In fact, it seems that her Headmaster really wants her to come home for the holidays. So unless there is something dire going on that means Harry needs to be there, I don't think there should be an issue. Besides, he didn't actually say he couldn't come." Ziva didn't notice the looks that the team were giving her as she went back to her desk sitting down as she wrote up the last bit of her report for the case they had closed. Jethro stared at Ziva for a moment before pulling out two sheets of paper. In one he quickly wrote a reply to the Headmaster, telling the old man plainly that Harry was coming home for the holidays, and he was not afraid to remove Harry from Hogwarts if he needed to. In the second, he wrote a reply to his son. Folding both up and putting them in separate envelopes he looked to Abby, who took them both. "I was getting ready to run to the post to send out my letter to Harry. I'll send yours too!" She said with a smile.

* * *

_Back at Hogwarts_

Harry shot up in his bed, clutching his scar, sweat making his pajamas stick to his body. With a groan, the eleven year old fell back into his bed resting his hand on his heart, trying to calm it as well as his breathing. Glancing at the window, he noticed that it must have been early morning. They were going home in two days! With a smile, he sat up again, pushing the blankets off and grabbing his uniform from his trunk. Quickly, and quietly, he made his way to the bathrooms and showered and changed. Running a hand through his messy hair, the boy just shook his head. The nightmare that he had woken from starting to escape his mind.

He sat next to Hermione, and across from both Neville and Faith. Grabbing some eggs and bacon, he started to eat his breakfast, listening to his friends talk about the holidays coming up. "Neville what are you doing for the holidays?" Hermione asked the boy.

"Grandmum usually has a ball, so I'll be going to that unfortunately. Otherwise I'm not to sure. Maybe I'll spend some time in the green houses!" He answered. Hermione smiled nodding her head before turning to Faith, prepared to ask the same question. Before she could, however, two owls flew over them-one being Hedwig. The owls dropped three envelopes, one for Hermione, the other two for Harry. Opening the first, he smiled as he read the letter from Abby, deciding to reply during a study break. The second was from his dad. There was only one sentence on it.

'_Remember Rule 35'_

Harry stared at the piece of paper, before racking his brain for the list of Rules he had grown up with. His memory finally returning to him, he could only whisper, "Always watch the watchers." Looking around him, he noticed a pair of eyes staring at him, and turned in the direction, his eyes meeting those of the Headmaster. Harry didn't notice his friends worried glances at him, as he seemed to be entranced. "Harry? Harry!" Hermione called, snapping Harry out of his trance. Turning to look at the girl, he raised an eyebrow.

"Come on we're going to be late for class!" She said pulling him up. Grabbing the two letters and throwing them into his bag, Harry hurried after his three friends, his mind thinking back to what his father sent him. What did he mean?

* * *

AN: Sooo go ahead and hit me. Especially since you know...I've actually had this chapter finished for months now, I just hadn't gotten around to updating. I won't give you excuses as to why, it just...yeah didn't happen. I am hoping to get back into it, and yeah. Thank you again for all the continued support! :) It really makes me happy.

Until next time!


	5. Chapter 04: Holidays Wishes

Hello all! :) Welcome to another installment of Rules of Life. So you all know

'**Bold' **is Hebrew

'Regular' is English

'_Italics_' is Sign Language

'_**Bold Italics**_' is Arabic

Disclaimer: All characters and places belongs to the creators of both Harry Potter and NCIS. Credit to the story idea goes to, katdemon1895. Everything else is mine.

* * *

Chapter 04: Holiday Wishes

His wand twitched, incinerating the piece of parchment on sight. The twinkle in his eyes gone, and a deep frown set into his face, he sighed. So far this year nothing had gone as planned. At the start of the school year he had been planning on a young boy ready to be molded for the future that he, Albus Dumbledore, had planned for him. He had even hand-picked the boy's best friend and future girlfriend! However he had been sadly mistaken. Harry had a sense of defiance about him, that Albus wasn't expecting. Though his sense of self-sacrifice was very much there, if Halloween night was anything to go by.

Leaning back in his chair, the aged Professor popped a Lemon Drop in his mouth sucking on the candy as he thought to himself. First thing was first, he would need to reply to the boy's adopted father. He would also have to allow Harry to go back to home for the holidays. In no way, would you let _Gibbs_ take the chosen one. He also needed to figure out a way to get rid of the Israeli, she would be of no help to his plans and since Mister Weasley couldn't seem to make Harry stop being friends with her, he'd have to get creative. Eyeing the three envelopes on his desk, the Headmaster gave a sigh. He knew what all three said-given that they were all addressed to three of the students at this school, and contained all the same information.

A decision coming to mind, Albus sat up in his seat preparing several sheets of parchment, his quill and a bottle of ink. His first order of business was replying to the boy's adopted father.

* * *

Brown eyes regarded the ginger in front of her with a critical eye. She had yet to tell Harry about what she had overheard the other night, but was going to. First, however, she wanted to make sure she had the facts. As Harry had told her and the rest of their friends on a number of occasions, 'Never screw over your partner.' She wasn't entirely sure how that sentence seemed to effect the situation at hand, she did however know that if she was to call Weasley out, she needed proof. She also needed to make sure that Harry wasn't being fooled by the ginger, thus breaking said rule.

"Hey Hermione, can I ask you something?" Turning to the voice, said girl nodded her head towards the boy.

"Of course, Neville."

"Well...I know that you don't celebrate Christmas-you told Harry and I as much. Why is that?" Eyes softening, Hermione nodded her head. Her previous thoughts leaving her mind for the time being, she explained to her friend about how she was Jewish, and just what that meant. She didn't notice the eyes the eyes that turned to look at her as she spoke, anger in them-though there was a hidden guilt and sadness in them.

* * *

_Several Days Later_

Both Harry and Hermione waved goodbye to their friends, watching as they left the school, heading for the train in Hogsmeade. The two would be taken back home via the Floo Network-it was faster afterall. Trudging up to their Head of House's private quarters. They spoke quietly amongst themselves, enjoying the company each brought.

"Ah! Miss David, Mister Gibbs. Are you ready to head home?" Turning to look at their professor, both nodded their heads, smiles growing on their faces. Minerva couldn't help but smile back at her two favorite students-because there was no doubt that they had definitely become that in the short months she had known them. Taking both their trunks, the professor quickly shrunk them down to fit into their pockets with a wave of her wand before walking over to her fireplace. "Now, traveling by floo is much different than what you will be used to. We have to make several stops along the way, but worry not, we will be there in a few hours," She explained to the two preteens. She then quickly went on to explain where they would be going first and how to use the floo network. Handing each a small bag of floo powder to be used on their trip home and back, she ushered Hermione in first.

Taking a deep breath, the girl threw down a small handful, calling her destination, before she disappeared in the green flames. Harry followed shortly after, being followed by their Transfiguration Professor. Soon all that was left was an empty room.

Traveling through the floo seemed to take days for the three, though it was only in a matter of a few hours. Finally, however, they managed to reach Washington D.C's magical district. Sighing in relief, both Harry and Hermione swept the last of the soot off their clothes before looking at their professor. "Be sure to be here by 11AM the day before term starts, do you understand?" She said, all business.

"Yes, Professor," the two chorused, before watching the woman step back into the fireplace, most likely to return to Hogwarts.

"Well that is awfully silly. We're just kids and she just leaves us," Hermione said quietly to her friend. Harry could only nod his head in agreement, finding it odd himself that she would do such a thing. Unconsciously linking hands, the two Hogwarts students made their way out of the building and down the streets of Magical Washington D.C. Harry smiled, as memories floated to him of just before the term started.

He and his father had traveled here together, his father seeming to know a lot more about the Magical world than Harry thought. That's when the man had explained that though he had told Dumbledore that he wanted Harry away from the magic until he was ready, it didn't mean he didn't want to learn more about it. And so he had, so that way when the time came he would be prepared, and then he could prepare his son. "So where is your dad meeting you, Harry?" Hermione asked, snapping the boy from his thoughts.

Turning to look at the brown-haired girl, he left a blush grace his face before looking down. "Uhm, actually my dad isn't picking me up. My Aunt Abby is, something about dad wanting to finish something up for me before I got home."

"Oh really? That's so cool! My Aunt Ziva said she'd meet me at a place called... 'The Wild Dragon,' I guess that's a restaurant?" Harry nodded his head, showing that she was right.

"Yeah it is, kind of like The Leaky Cauldron, Ron and Neville told us about in England. The Wild Dragon is a restaurant that leads to the non-magical Washington," He explained to his foreign friend.

"Oh so kind of like, **One's Homeage** in Isreal!" Hermione said in excitement. Raising an eyebrow at his friend, Hermione blushed before translating the Hebrew into English. "It means One's Homeage, Harry. Sorry. I forgetyou don't know Hebrew and Arabic..."

"Oh don't worry about it! You'll just have to teach me," Harry said laughing. Hermione joined in the laughter, knowing that she would indeed be teaching her friend her native tongues, much like Harry was teaching her something called 'ASL' or Sign Language as he put it. As the two reached the restaurant, they both were shocked to hear a voice yell out for the boy. "Harry!" Chuckling again, Harry turned towards the voice, and smiled at the gothic-looking woman running towards him.

"Hi Abby!" He said, a smile on his face as the two hugged. When they finally pulled away from each other, Abby plopped a kiss on his forehead before turning to Hermione.

"Oh you must be Hermione! Harry has told me so much about you," She said, her outgoing personality coming through. Hermione in turn blushed, before nodding her head. Just as she was about to speak she heard another voice calling her name. **"Little One!"** Turning towards the voice, Harry watched as a woman with hair much like Hermione's -though her's fell down in light curls rather than the thick curls that Hermione sported- came over to the girl. **"Ziva**," she cried back, jumping into the arms of her Aunt. Seeing the look Harry was giving her, Hermione laughed. "Right, Harry this is my Aunt Ziva. Which is what I just said in Hebrew," she explained. Harry nodded his head in understanding, before turning back to the woman. He was about to introduce himself, however before he could, Abby cut in.

"Wait! Ziva this is your niece who goes to school in Scotland," Abby asked in shock. Ziva seeming to notice the outgoing goth, opened her mouth in shock before looking down at Harry and then back up. Realization seemed to dawn her face, before she nodded her head. The two preteens could only look at each other in confusion, before looking at the two grown women before them. Something clicked in Harry's head.

"Wait you're Ziva? The one Abby, Ducky, and Dad told me about?" He asked looking at the Israeli. Ziva looked down at him, and though Harry wasn't her boss' son in blood, she could very much see the similarities between the two. "I am yes. I was planning on meeting you tonight, but it seems like things have changed," She said with a smile.

"Oh this is so awesome! We'll definitely be able to hang out now, Harry!" Hermione said happily, hugging her best friend. Harry smiled, hugging his friend back before nodding his head.

"Well, Mister Harry Gibbs, we should probably get you home before your dad thinks I am taking you to get a tattoo or something," Abby said with a smile. Nodding his head, Harry waved goodbye to both Hermione and her Aunt before following the black-haired woman to her car. Moving to sit in the passenger seat, it wasn't long before they were on their way. "Alright Harry, tell me what's really been going on at Hogwarts. Your letters always seemed very...vague," Abby said to her favorite kid. Sighing, Harry nodded his head.

"I'm sorry, Abby. I think someone is reading my letters that I get and send out, so I had to be," He explained. Abby nodded her head in understanding, before ushering the boy to tell her everything. And so he did. From the train ride, to the sorting, to Halloween Night, and the Cerberus that he, Hermione, and Ron had accidentally found. By the time he was finished speaking they had reached his house, and the two hopped out of the car. Before they could go inside, however, Abby quickly pulled him into another hug.

"Harry be careful. Please. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. I don't know what your dad would either," She whispered quietly to him. It was one of those few serious moments that Abby had, and with that Harry knew that she was being serious. Holding out his pinky finger he wrapped it around hers in a promise, that he'd be careful.

"Now come on! I know of a certain man who wants to see his son," Abby said, her bubbly personality suddenly back. Grinning, Harry took her outstretched hand, before the two headed towards the door leading into the house. He was home.

* * *

Not very long, my apologies. I just wanted Harry and Gibb's reunion to be a chapter all itself, as well as the interaction between the two.

Pertaining to a particular review I received, yes there are American Wizarding Schools, however there is a reason they're going to Hogwarts. That should be explained in the next few chapters.

Until next time! :)


	6. Chapter 05: Surprises

Hello all! :) I apologize for the wait, unfortunately I caught a bit of a cold so was out of commission for a few weeks.

'**Bold' **is Hebrew

'Regular' is English

'_Italics_' is Sign Language

'_**Bold Italics**_' is Arabic

Disclaimer: All characters and places belongs to the creators of both Harry Potter and NCIS. Credit to the story idea goes to, katdemon1895. Everything else is mine.

* * *

Chapter 05: Surprises

Time seemed to go in slow motion, as Harry moved towards the front door. Butterflies filled his stomach, though he didn't know why. Maybe it was because he hadn't seen the man he called father in so many months? Or maybe it was just a sense of foreboding, that something wasn't quite right. Shaking his head, to clear his thoughts, Harry took a deep breath as they stood in front of the door. Reaching out, the eleven-year old turned the knob, before pushing against the door.

Warmth automatically greeted him as he entered the house, closely followed by Abby, and he looked around a smile growing on his face. Nose hit with the smells of home, he almost felt the urge to cry. Almost-not quite there. Hesitantly, he looked in the living room, seeing the bookshelves and couch. Seeing that it was empty, he smiled, having an idea of where his dad would be if not waiting for him there.

Pulling his trunk out of his pocket, he told Abby that he was going to go take it to his room before heading down to the basement-where he had no doubt his dad was. He watched as the woman nodded her head, before running up the stairs and down the hall. Reaching a closed door, he quickly pushed open the door, to see a room painted in a dark blue. A twin-size bed sat in the corner, next to his nightstand, while on the other side was a desk and bookshelf. All of it looked to be hand-crafted-and it had been. Setting the trunk at the edge of his bed, Harry watched as it expanded itself, with a quiet laugh. He quickly took off his cloak, throwing it on his bed, before turning and walking out of the room.

Nearly running back down the hall, Harry froze as he heard the sounds of voices coming up the stairs. He paused to listen, recognizing not only Abby's, but his father's as well. The smile that hadn't left his face since he entered the house only grew-if that was even possible, before he ran down the stairs calling his father. "Dad!"

* * *

LeRoy Jethro Gibbs was a happy man. Why? Today his son was coming home! He sat down in the basement, working on a small project that he had started working on a month before. It wasn't much, he knew, but he also knew that his son would love it. Running his hand against the smooth wood, he smiled to himself, before reaching over to take a sip of his coffee.

He was about to continue working on it, until he heard the sound of shuffling steps in his home. Two pairs it seemed. One was light-that of a child, while the other a female's. Quickly hiding the gift for his son, Jethro looked up towards the open door to the basement to see Abby's face. Smiling at the woman, he grabbed his cup, turning fully towards her as she stepped down into the basement. "Harry upstairs?" He asked the woman.

"Yup! He said he wanted to drop off his stuff in his room, before coming down to see you," was her reply. Nodding his head in understanding he walked over, kissing her cheek in thanks before heading upstairs-knowing that Abby was following close behind. Once the two made it to the main part of the house, they walked into the main hall, Abby chattering about the dinner party that they were having at Ducky's that night. "Oh! You'll never guess who I ran into when I was picking up Harry!" She said. Turning to look at her, Jethro opened his mouth to ask who, until he heard the sound of running and his name being called.

He had only just managed to turn towards the voice before finding himself before hugged for all he was worth. Looking down at the small boy, a genuine smile graced his features as he wrapped his arms around Harry. "It's good to see you, son," he said. Leaning down he kissed the top of the boy's head, before pulling away and kneeling down so he could look at him eye to eye. "Welcome home," he added.

"It's good to be home. I've missed you, Dad."

"And I've missed you." Hugging his son close to him again, Jethro looked up at Abby to see that she had a happy smile on her face before leaving the hallway to give the two privacy. He knew that they'd see the outgoing goth later that night.

* * *

_Some Hours Later_

Fidgeting in his short-sleeved green polo and jeans, Harry glanced around the living room in silence. Moving to sit on the couch, he leaned back, awaiting his father to come down the stairs so they could leave. "Harry? Are you ready to go," a voice called from the top of the stairs. Standing up quickly, the green-eyed boy walked towards the voice, and looked up at his dad. "Yup! I can't wait to see Uncle Ducky, Uncle Tony, and Uncle Tim!" He said in excitement. He hadn't yet told his dad about Ziva being the Aunt of his best friend, deciding that he'd surprise his father when they showed up to Ducky's house.

Chuckling to himself, Jethro walked down the stairs, handing his son the jacket he had forgotten in his room, before pulling his own jacket on over his polo and slacks. Together the two males walked out of the house into the cool evening-snow was beginning to fall lightly. Harry tightened his jacket around himself, hurrying along the sidewalk to get to his dad's vehicle. Once both men were inside and buckled up, Harry relaxed watching his father start to pull out.

"So you still haven't told me much about the friends you've made at school. Except from what was in your letters," the elder Gibbs said, opening up the conversation.

"Well there's Ron. He's the youngest male of seven kids, I think? He has a younger sister who'll be starting up next year. He's also really good at chess, and has been teaching me some strategies," He began, "Then Neville, apparently his mom was my godmother, but something happened-he doesn't like talking about it. I know he lives with his Grandma though. Both are what people call 'purebloods,' which I guess is just another term for both parents being magical.

"Faith is an American, actually. She got Neville into movies, but I don't think she's coming back after break. She doesn't have magical parents, and apparently there's a school here in America, so they want her closer to home. And last, but definitely not least, is Hermione. She's my best friend, and from Israel! Well actually she said she was born in England like I was, but her parents died in a car crash when she was little, and her only living relatives were in Israel so she grew up there.

She's planning on teaching me some Hebrew and Arabic, which is really cool, because then we'll be able to talk in another language and not have others listening in on our conversations! Though...I have been teaching her sign language like you and Aunt Abby taught me. We mostly use it to converse in the library, or to communicate between each other if something's wrong though. Neville is learning too, Ron doesn't seem to interested so he doesn't know any." As he finished talking, he saw a smile on his father's face, and couldn't help but smile back. He had never really fit in with kids his own age, so the fact that he had friends was a pretty big deal-at least in Harry's eyes.

"Well I'm happy for you, son. Learning a new language is important as well-especially when you might find yourself in that country for whatever reason. " The elder said. The two continued chatting as Jethro drove, not noticing the time pass by until they reached Ducky's house. Looking at the cars, Harry smiled before remembering that Hermione would probably be there too. _I should probably tell him..._ he thought to himself, giving his father a sideways glance. Biting his lip, he decided he would-even if he had wanted it to be a surprise. It was better to be honest, at least that's what he was taught.

"Oh, I met Ziva today when Aunt Abby was picking me up. Apparently, Hermione's Aunt is Ziva," He said nonchalantly, as if it weren't that big of a deal. Getting out of the car, he missed the look of surprise on his dad's face.

* * *

AN: Shorter than normal, and I'm sorry for that. Next chapter will be Gibbs meeting Hermione, and Harry seeing his second family! See you guys again!


	7. Chapter 06: Family Ties

AN: Hello! So...I won't bother with excuses because I honestly have none for as to why I haven't updated in about two months. I do, however, have some news at the end of this chapter so be sure to read it! :) And now onto the story!

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own Harry Potter or NCIS. They both belong to their respective owners. The credits for this plot bunny go to Katdemon1895, and I am forever grateful that she let me take this story on, and continues to keep in touch with me letting me know how I'm doing and ideas/questions she might have.

* * *

Chapter 06: Family Ties

The inside of Ducky's home was warm, and cheery-the holiday season ever present. Taking off their jackets, both Gibbs and Harry could smell the food, and hear the chatter of voices farther inside the home. "Jethro! There you are. And I see young, Harry too," A voice called from the other room, a strong, Scottish accent. Looking towards the voice, a grin grew on the young boy's face.

"Uncle Ducky!" Running to the older man, Harry was quickly wrapped in a hug from him, and a kiss to the forehead.

"Is that a munchkin I hear?" Another voice called, making it's appearance known. Pulling away from Ducky, Harry turned to glare at the owner of the voice.

"I am not a munchkin, Uncle Tony!" He exclaimed. 'Tony' just laughed, shaking his head as he hugged the younger boy as well. Ducky and Gibbs had met up and were chatting quietly as Tony and Harry caught up after months of not seeing one another. Another person soon joined the group of people situated in the hallway. Seeing the face, Harry smiled waving to the man. "Hi Uncle Tim," He said.

"'Uncle?' Since when was McGee, 'Uncle,' munchkin?" Harry laughed at Tony's look of confusion.

"Well, he's been around awhile. Not as long as you, but still. Oh and he wrote me more than my other self-dubbed 'Uncle,'" Harry said matter-of-factly, arms crossed over his chest as he gave Tony a look. He watched as Tony's eyes widened comically, before he schooled his face to just nod his head. Harry had no doubt that Tim would be getting it from Tony later-after all his movie-obsessed uncle had a habit of teasing the newer team member mercilessly.

Everyone sat in the living room, chatting as they waited Ziva and Abby to show. "Wait, you saw a three-headed dog?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow, in regards to the story of how Harry, Hermione, and Ron had accidentally come across the Cerberus. Harry only nodded his head. "Yeah,we did. It was standing on a trapdoor too. Hermione and I think it has something to do with what Dumbledore is keeping at the castle. At the beginning of the year he told us that the corridor we had been on was forbidden, unless you wanted to die...I didn't realize just how serious that comment was." He answered in return, thinking to himself at the same time '_Senile old man. Why keep something dangerous like that in a school?'_

"Well I don't care what the reasons are for you being there, Harry, you stay away from there. I don't know what would happen if I were to lose my favorite nephew." Harry gave Tony a look.

"I'm your only nephew, Uncle Tony."

"Exactly! Thus making you my favorite." Tony said laughing, causing Harry to laugh along with him. The two continued to laugh, not noticing the raised eyebrows of Ducky, Gibbs, McGee, and Abby-who had just arrived. "Am I missing something?" Abby asked, taking off her jacket.

"Oh just something about a three-headed dog, and nephews," Ducky explained a smile growing on his face. Shaking her head, Abby smiled at the two before moving over to wrap her arms around the eleven year old. "Hello, Harry!"

"Abby! It's been...only a few hours." Harry stuck his tongue out at the goth women, causing her to laugh.

"That it has, Harry. Doesn't mean you can escape Abby's hugs though. Has being away made you forget, or what?" Tony teasingly told the boy. Waving his hand, Harry simply dismissed what he said-winking at his Uncle- before looking around the room. _I wonder where Ziva and Hermione are..._

* * *

It was sometime later, and dinner was being set out on the table, when Ziva and Hermione finally showed. Immediately, Harry felt his face split into a grin as his best friend walked into the home, and he was just about to rush over to the girl to give her a hug-even if it had only been a few hours since they had seen each other. He was stopped, though, by his father resting his hand on his shoulder. It wasn't a move to cause any harm, but to simply let Ziva and Hermione get settled into Ducky's home before the eleven-year old boy excitedly pulled his friend to meet his family.

Hermione looked around the room, a rare show of shyness breaking through her usual self-confident facade that she wore on her face. Growing up she had hardly been around others-her family rather protective of their own, especially after the death of Ziva and Ari's younger half-sister. And so while accustomed to the people at Hogwarts, being around completely different people, people that her Aunt worked with, Hermione felt small and alone. That feeling quickly dissipated at the sight of her best friend though, and she gave him a small, shy smile. "Hello Gibbs." She spoke as she had at the beginning of the two's friendship, not fully knowing what to do in the situation-especially seeing as her best friend's Dad was her Aunt's boss. The elder Gibbs raised an eyebrow at the curly-haired brunette in front of him, obviously addressing his son.

"Hi Hermione!" Harry said, a frown marring his features before he opened his mouth to speak again. Shaking his head, he shut it after a moment, deciding that the two would talk in private about her calling him by his last name. The room stood in an awkward silence for several moments, before Ziva finally moved to speak. "Hello everyone. This is my niece, Hermione. Hermione this is Anthony DiNozzo, though he's mostly referred to as Tony. Timothy McGee, or Tim. Abby, Ducky, and of course Gibbs." She introduced, pointing to each person in question. Hermione smiled at all the people in the room, noting that she recognized Abby as the woman who had come to get Harry earlier that day from the pub. "It's a pleasure to meet you," The young girl spoke politely, a small smile gracing her features again-before she turned to look at Harry fully. She could see the confusion and hurt still in his eyes, and felt a pang in her heart-knowing she had been the one to cause it. Silently, she made a promise that she would talk to Harry after they ate.

* * *

It was quickly apparent, as everyone sat at the table to eat the dinner that Ducky and his mother had prepared, that Hermione and Harry were not their usual selves. Harry, the ever talkative boy around his family, had become quiet and simply watched the people around him. Hermione, while the people in the room didn't exactly know her(the exceptions being her Aunt and Harry) they did know the stories that Harry had told them, had continued to let her shyness shine through her brown doe eyes as she looked at each person closely-trying to figure out the personalities of everyone.

Dinner was an interesting affair. All the adults spoke, Tony cracking jokes along with Tim every now and then, chatting about mindless things to pass the time. After all they all did see each other everyday. "So Harry, Hermione, how did you two meet?" Abby asked, trying to get Harry and Hermione both out of their shells. A look to each other, both pre-teens cracked a grin on their face at the reminder of how they met. "We were on the train to school and she came in looking for a toad." Harry started.

"And when I realized who he was, I may have acted..." Hermione continued, pausing to try and figure out how to word it.

"You acted as if you had met some celebrity, Hermione. Let's just be honest." Harry said, sticking his tongue out at the twelve year old. Hermione laughed, nodding her head.

"Oh he didn't let that last long. Promptly told me that it was Harry Gibbs and not Harry Potter too. Said that if I was only in the room to meet the so-called 'Boy-Who-Lived' I was in for a let down." Hermione said, causing both preteens to laugh. Whatever had caused the awkwardness between the two friends had finally passed, leaving the two to fall back into their normal selves, as they went into more depth about their meeting, finishing eachother's sentences to the amusement of the adults in the room.

"That's not how we became friends though," Harry finally said, shaking his head at the memory. Hermione bit her lip, looking down as she was reminded of that day. Abby, noticing the looks that passed both their faces, wondered just what had happened. It was Tony who voiced everyone's questin though. "Oh? So how did you two become friends?"

"Ron Weasley said some mean things after class on Halloween. I went to a room to practice my aim, and Harry followed me shortly after, telling me not to listen to him. We found that we actually had a lot in common that day," Hermione explained, giving a shrug of her shoulders.

"Wait...wasn't Halloween the night of the troll thing?" Tim asked, turning to Harry. Said boy looked up at his Uncle before nodding his head. "It was." Gibbs sat quietly, looking at his son who had in turn looked up at him. The two stared at each other for several moments, as if having a silent conversation, before turning away. Gibbs promptly changed the subject. "What about this Neville you were telling me about, Harry? Are you two friends with him as well?" He asked.

"We are! Harry, Neville, and I hang out a lot together actually. Whether we're studying, or just messing around," Hermione answered, a bright smile growing on her face. With that the subject moved to people the two children hung out with, and what their classes were like. It was obvious to everyone in the room that Transfiguration and Charms was by far the pairs favorites.

* * *

Dinner had been over for sometime, and now everyone sat in living room-both preteens on the floor looking up at the adults as they were clued in on the happenings of D.C. "Oh and then Abby slapped Ziva one time. Now that was funny...shocking, but funny," Tony said chuckling. Both kids raised their eyebrow before turning to look at the two females-one blushing slightly while the other shook her head.

"It was a simple misunderstanding is all. Ziva and I get along a lot better now, Tony." Abby said, her blush starting to go down as she glared at the man. Reaching over, Gibbs slapped Tony over the back of his head, telling him to knock it off in a way. Hermione raised an eyebrow before turning to look at Harry. "So that's where you got it from!" The girl exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at the girl, confusion running in their eyes. Harry blushed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well...yeah. He is my dad you know. I had to get something from him, besides the rules and stuff," He explained. Hermione laughed, leaning over to give her friend a hug. "Oh I'm just teasing, Harry. I do think it's funny though," She said. Hearing a cough, both kids turned to look at Ducky who was looking at them. "What did Harry get from Jethro?" He asked.

"Oh! Whenever one of us is being a pain, Harry does what his dad just did to Tony," She answered.

"No, I do it whenever you and Ron are arguing when we should be doing homework." Harry said. Hermione giggled, nodding her head that this was in fact true. Harry had never smacked Neville, only Ron and Hermione. These few statements, however, caused all the adults to look at one another before they all started laughing. Harry really was his father's son!

* * *

The night was coming to a close, and both Harry and Hermione knew they'd be going home with their respective families soon. Nodding to each other they separated from the adults and went to go talk by themselves, Harry giving his dad a look to let him know they'd be back.

Stepping outside, Harry sat down in one of the chairs on the porch, pulling his jacket around himself tightly. "Are you okay, Hermione? When you got here you seemed..." He trailed off, not knowing how to finish the statement.

"Different? I know, and I'm sorry Harry. When I got home with Aunt Ziva, she told me some of the things that were going on with the family is all. It just really shook me up I guess, which is why I was acting so odd." She explained, not wanting to go into further detail on her family. That was one thing the two didn't talk about much. Their families. Well, Hermione knew how close Harry and his father were-but he didn't actually talk much about his biological family, even if he did know some things due to his father. It was much the same for Harry. He knew that Hermione was closest with Ziva, and knew that Ziva was not in fact her actual Aunt, but that was it. He didn't know where exactly she fell into place within the David Family, but didn't ask. "I see. Well it's okay, Hermione. I know that it's hard. Just know that we're friends and thick as trees," He said, earning a grin from the curly-haired brunette beside him.

The two talked for awhile longer, making plans to meet up a few times during the break so Harry could show Hermione his home, as well as try and get their families closer. Neither were blind and could see that though Ziva was apart of the team, Harry's father was the only one to really trust her fully.

By the time the evening had come to an end, Harry was rather tired and after saying goodnight to everyone, went home with his dad. He fell asleep easily, a smile on his face at being home again. Gibbs watched from the doorway, looking at his son with a peaceful smile on his face. Harry had always been different then the kids at school, a bit more mature, so seeing his son being carefree with another child his own age made him a happy father. He wasn't sure where this friendship would go for the two, but knew that Harry had made a real friend in the curly-haired brunette. He knew that if she was anything like her Aunt, which she was from what he had gathered that evening, then she would remain true to Harry much like Ziva was to him.

"Goodnight, son." The whisper met the sleeping boy's ears, causing him to turn over and cuddle into a pillow he had beside him, much like he had done when Harry had first come to live with Gibbs-the only difference being that the pillow was him. Smiling still, Gibbs left the doorway shutting off the lights as he made his way into his own room-getting ready to sleep for the night.

* * *

AN: Woo! So it's a bit longer than my normal chapters-which makes me extremely happy. I'm going to start to try and write them a bit longer, however that's not my news.

Right sooo I'm moving!

Yes you did read that right. August 15th I will be moving to California for school, from Texas. Yay for 30 hours car drives. Except...not really. However with me moving it also leaves me little time to update. I will not make promises for another chapter before I move, as I do have two other stories I want to update as well, but I will tell you that I will try and update another time before I move. As for when I do move, the story will be on a temporary hiatus as I get settled in, and get internet. I will be working on chapters for this lovely story, because I don't need internet to use word, there just won't be any updates until September/October I'm thinking. Hopefully sooner than that.

Until next time! :)

EDIT: Oh by the way do you know how happy it makes me to know that so many people like this story? As of today(July 27, 2013) I have 77 Reviews, 545 Followers, 314 Favorites, 18 Communities, and 31,121 Views on this story alone. To know that people actually are enjoying this story makes me so happy, and so I just wanted to thank all of you for that. When I first started working on this after getting permission to use it from Katdemon, I never expected it to get some many likes. I just started working on it because I have read so many stories of Harry Potter, and even crossovers of HP and NCIS, and wanted to take my own twist on it. So thank you guys. As I've said already, it really means a lot. :)


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